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I like to share some of the treasured wild game I harvest with others for consumption. Why? Some of you may be asking. I know, I know, I should keep it all for myself, right? After all, it is so healthy and delicious! Well, I like to breakdown stereotypes in the lifestyle of hunting with others, especially when it comes to dining on wild game meat. What I continually find is that some folks are fearful of preparing, cooking and, more so, …

Busy time of year for me, lots of meetings, workshops, sportshows, fishing, etc., etc. I will be hanging out here this weekend: If you are in the area, stop by, tell me a fish story, ask me a question! If you make it onto the ice this weekend, dry one off for me!

Let me say a few things about one of the most popular species of fish that anglers, especially ice anglers, like to catch, yellow perch. Most people would tell you that walleyes are one of the best fish on the table and they are right. Except their smaller “cousin” the yellow perch, is just as good, and maybe even a little bit better. For that reason word of a hot perch bite during a Nebraska winter travels faster than the …

My wife thinks I am a hoarder. I believe I am a collector of things. Everybody collects stuff, right? Some folks collect baseball cards and other sports memorabilia while still others collect everything from Mason canning jars to antique jewelry to knives. Me, well, I collect outdoor things – vintage outdoor things. The outdoor world is rife with items to collect, whether legally obtained from the wild, homemade or manufactured. I even have an old Nebraska Game and Parks Commission …

Please consider me the proverbial town-herald, rather than an alarmist. But…The end is near! THE END IS NEAR!! January 31, draws nigh and with it comes the end of my beloved bird season. And what a season it has been, too. Last season (2014/15) I was pleasantly surprised with bird numbers. This season (2015/16) I was shocked. The birds bounced back. Yes-yes, I heard all the good news prior to heading to field this past fall, but data is just …

I hope many of you have looked at the title of this blog post and wondered, “What in the world is “barotrauma?””. Barotrauma is the pointy-headed fish biologist term for what happens to some species of fish when they are quickly raised from relatively deep water to the surface. Most species of our freshwater fish have swim bladders–internal “bags” of gas that the fish use to regulate buoyancy. Fish living at depths of 20-30 feet or more only have a …

It is Friday! I try to keep in “light” on my Friday blog, but like to get something posted before I am “out the door” for the weekend. I have posted a number of funny fishing commercials, but I must not be watching the right shows anymore because it has been a long time since I saw a good one. I used to look forward to the Rapala commercials every fishing show “season” as they had some great ones, but …

The following blog post was written by Nebraska Game and Parks District 3 Commissioner Mick Jensen. Serving as a Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioner, I have the great privilege and opportunity to help introduce people to outdoor recreation and the excitement of hunting and fishing. Last year, Clint Kantor and I became acquainted at the Big Game Society dinner and auction in Lincoln. The Big Game Society auction raises funds for big game habitat in Nebraska. The event brings together …

At the end of each year I like to look back at the state record fish that were certified; kind of a “state record annual report”. It is time to do that again. . . . Surface Spearfishing Let me start with the surface spearfishing state record category. We typically do not see a lot of surface spearfishing record fish in a year and 2015 was no exception. There was one fish certified as a surface spear-fishing record last year, …

Someone I knew once said: “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives you a snow day, you make snow ice cream!” I couldn’t agree more! With an ever-expanding blanket of snow cover over much of Nebraska, I thought it would be a perfect time to share with you my recipe for making snow ice cream. Creating this scrumptious “snow cream,” as I call it, is a fun activity to do with the kids on a cold winter day here on the Great Plains. They’ll …